Walkley Hill Road Site Considered For Transfer Station

Neighboring Property Owners Quickly Express Concerns

HADDAM — A wooded tract between Walkley Hill Road and Route 154, less than a mile from where the town's first settlement was established in 1662, is being considered for a new trash transfer station.

Town officials have not yet disclosed the location, but talk about the possible site has raised concerns along Walkley Hill — an upscale neighborhood of trees and stately colonial homes.

"This is a travesty that they would even consider this," said a neighbor who asked that her name not be used. She said the 8-acre parcel is known as the Anderson property, near the northern end of Walkley Hill, and bounded on the east by Route 154.

The parcel is just north of the present transfer station.

First Selectman Paul DeStefano said he was "disappointed" that property owners were already expressing concerns without knowing all the facts. He said negotiations over a previous site for a transfer station along Route 81 fell apart because of similar concerns by a few property owners.

"This is about the interests of a whole town vs. three or four people," DeStefano said. He said the dump, as many still call the local transfer station, has special importance for Haddam.

"The transfer station is the heart and soul of this town," he said.

DeStefano said the transfer station would be on the Route 154 side of the property and well away from Walkley Hill Road.

He said the proposal, which is to be reviewed next month by the board of finance, requires town meeting approval.

Haddam for decades has been under orders from the state Department of Environmental Protection to find a new location for its transfer station, which now is on state property along the Connecticut River next to Haddam Meadows State Park.

The DEP has given the town until the end of the year to find a new location or face fines.